Different, Not Sad
by Fallen Ark Angel
Summary: Starting your own guild is difficult. Laxus and Mirajane are still trying to figure it out. - One-shot, part of the Dragon's Roar series


There had been a sense of tension hanging over the tiny guild hall for a good number of months, proceeding even, perhaps, the conception. A fear, resentment, and pride had begun to intermingle with one another to encapsulate its two primary inhabitants in a rather toxic, seemingly infinite bubble. The arrival of their firstborn did, however, do a bit to alleviate the pressure.

He was born in the heat of summer, when the old guildhall his father had painstakingly rebuilt was at it's least viable. In the harsh winters, the fireplace and heaters could help warm the place up, but when the heat flared in the long, bright days of summer time, the members mostly suffered through. There wasn't much to be had, anyhow, in the hall. No nice game room or bath house. No pool or much of a menu, honestly, at the bar. The Master's wife could make you a strong drink and fry you some fish, but other than that, it was pretty bare bones and in its infancy, the hall was.

It wasn't the appearance of the hall that drove in membership, but rather what it could do to the appearance of the members.

When Laxus Dreyar first opened his own guildhall separate from his lineage, some sneered. However, the former S-Class wizard had his share of high caliber friends that were interested in the culture he was hoping to eventually offer. He had a high standard for members and, through his own notoriety, had a nice level of job pull, albeit not many. There was a certain feeling that came along with joining up with Raijin that many were unable to provide. Stick with him through the rough years and he promised a big reward in the ones to come.

The way his eyes were alight when speaking and dreaming of those days were enough to influence many to his ideals.

But that didn't mean that the place was at all as profitable as it seemed. Hardship was the plight of a guild master, Makarov sighed to Laxus frequently when they spoke. Perseverance was concept he could offer his grandson and, with his only true dream really at stake, Laxus buckled in early on for the long haul.

When his first and only son was born in the haze of boiling sunny whether, he frequently left the bar area down below, however, and climbed up the stairs to the attic where he and his wife had lived since he purchased the old building. The intention was, of course, to eventually move, but the timing (and the jewels) had never rightly aligned. He felt better, anyhow, with his son so close. And his wife.

His wife.

Heh.

Mirajane and he weren't on the best of terms leading up to the birth of his son. Or before that, really. His grandfather only cautioned him of perseverance with that as well and Laxus would grumble back at this, whenever it was mentioned, because what other option was there?

Well, there were many.

But none that he wanted her to take.

All the windows were open in the guild, anyways, to catch as many drafts as were available, but up in the attic, where there was less of a chance for one, Laxus bought a little fan for his son, which gave off hardly any sound to the others, but he could hear it. With his dragon sense. The little whirling motion it made. All the way downstairs even, if he stood close to the staircase, he could hear it. He could hear most things up there. When the baby mewled or cried. When Mirajane sang to him.

Mira came down frequently, to continue help with the bar, but given that she frequently had to rush right back up the stairs to check on the child, Freed hung around more than he took jobs, to help around the bar. And with the child, too. He seemed to enjoy that portion much more than the dealing with rowdy drunks and disgruntled guild members.

Lisanna stayed with them for awhile as well, to be with the baby. It put Laxus even more on edge, in those early months, as he was almost certain that Mirajane and Lisanna would try and leave with his child, back to Magnolia. He didn't voice this to anyone, but he really felt as if it were a possibility. He didn't know what he'd do then, other than chase after them. Run after them. Beg after them.

The hopelessness of the idea really put him in a panic whenever he thought about it and more than once Mira had noticed how tense he'd begin to look when Lisanna was holding the baby. She'd only laugh at him though before remarking that he could calm down; her sister wouldn't drop the baby.

Which only gave him a new fear to have.

But this didn't happen. Lisanna left eventually as she needed to get back to Fairy Tail and take some more jobs. S-Class trials were coming up and, though it was a long shot, she was no different than all the others; a chance to prove yourself was not one to take lightly.

With a promise on her tongue of returning and Mira making a similar one to bring the child for his first visit of Magnolia soon enough, her sister departed once more.

Then it was just Mira, it seemed, who was frequently up in the attic, tending to the child.

Things were much the same one day as, while she was up there, Freed was diligently tending to the bar and Laxus was sitting close to the staircase, at his usual table, listening to the complaints and gripes of one of his guild members. It was hard to feign interest, as he was much more prone to feigning dis, yet it was one of the many duties of a diligent Master. It was while he was doing this, however, that he became aware of the noise upstairs. Rather, the lack of it.

The little whirl of the fan had stopped. For a moment, Laxus thought Mira had turned it off and was going to come down the stairs carrying the boy, but this wasn't the case. Interested, Laxus quickly ended the worthless conversation he was momentarily trapped in and pushed up form his seat.

At the top of the stairs he found her standing over by the tiny window that overlooked the town, her soft humming just barely beating out the subdued wines of their child.

"What happened to the fan?" was the first thing Laxus asked when he came into the room, going right over to where it sat. Mira made a bit of a face over her shoulder at him, watching him bend down to examine it.

"I dunno," was all she replied with a shrug. "Just stopped working."

"Piece of shit," he grumbled some, as he only gently kicked at it, causing the fan to topple over. "Well, I'll go out and buy you another."

"We're okay, Laxus."

"Okay? It's fucking hot as-"

"I said we're okay."

Still, he continued to glare down at the box fan. "Wonder why it stopped working. I hate that. When stuff just stops working."

"Would you like a warning? Before it suddenly decides to stop?"

"Would I- Shuddup, demon." He glared at her back, Laxus did, before coming closer. "And it's cooler downstairs. If you don't want me to go get you another fan, come bring him down there."

The him that Laxus was speaking of only stared up at his father, discomfort distorting his face, as he continued to wiggle in his mother's arms. Laxus only looked down at him, as he came to stand at his wife's side, watching the child whine.

Mira's pregnancy had been hard. For a lot of reasons. Then during the middle of it, they had a subdued wedding that was nothing like Mira had always dreamed and Laxus felt so embarrassed that after promising her so many things that he just had no chance to deliver on.

Their wedding both made them feel like failures, in certain ways. Her being six months pregnant did little to help the matter.

The whole thing was a mess.

But it didn't matter then, as they stood there in the tiny attic they shared, and Laxus only shook any thoughts he had away.

"Is it busy? Right now?"

He shook his head at his wife. "Pretty dead."

"I guess I could help Freed tidy up the bar-"

"Or you could just not do anything at all, other than watch the baby, like I asked you to."

No. She couldn't.

He seemed to like it much better, anyhow, the baby did, when they went downstairs. He stopped whining, at least, and instead only stayed cradled in his mother's arms, even mewling happily when Freed waved a finger in his face. As Laxus took his seat once more, he tried to focus on the paperwork in front of him, but his eyes only followed his wife around the hall.

He jumped a bit, however, when someone slammed down into the seat before him. It was only Evergreen though, in her normal flamboyancy, sighing loudly and waving obnoxiously over at Freed, as if to signal she needed a drink. And she did, no doubt. She always did.

She started talking to Laxus, Evergreen did, as she waited for her glass of wine. He didn't listen much (she didn't really have much interesting topics to offer up), but was pleased to hear that her job had gone well. All the other stuff was the kinds of things that he used to be able to easily tune out, when he wasn't a guild master. When he was allowed to blast music in his headphones at full volume to block out anyone who dared to approach him.

It wasn't a good look, shockingly enough, for a Master near his thirties to behave like a moody teenager. Who could have guessed it?

Mirajane brought over the glass for Evergreen, the baby still wiggling around in one arm. When Laxus complained, mostly about her tending bar at the moment, she took his complaints of being unable to do two things at once as an offer to watch the baby. It wasn't, but Laxus still got stuck with his son in his lap.

"Fan, huh?" Evergreen sighed at Laxus' explanation of why the child had been brought downstairs. Much like Laxus was with the majority of her needless talk of how important she was, Ever also only listened to the highlights of what the slayer said. Still, as she lifted the glass to her lips, she produced with her free hand one of the folded fans that she always kept closes. "Let me see him."

It made the baby giggle, anyways, as he sat in Evergreen's lap, enjoying the gentle breeze it provided as she mostly ignored him, but continued the motion. Laxus' son was important to what once was the Thunder Legion because, well, it was Laxus' son, but typically Evergreen found the idea of a young baby to be more a nuisance than anything more. Now, when he aged a few years, well, that could be entertaining, perhaps. Until then, the best she could provide was a wave of her fan now and again.

He did little to complain.

The place did cool down some, as did the whole town, when a short rainstorm began outside. Rather than the thick humidity of a thunderstorm, they were treated with the patter of rain drops as most bellowed on the room though some, unfortunately, found their ways through pesky leaks.

As always, it was a mad dash to get pots out in those plays.

Laxus grumbled some, as he always did, because he and Bickslow had attempted to patch up any leaks and he planed, completely, the seith for his lack of skill in said department, but somehow managed to completely negate the fact that he too offered little to no knowledge.

Unfortunately for the seith, he happened upon the guild, returning victorious from a job, at the exact moment Laxus was fuming about this. Instead of the hero's welcome he was expecting (though never going to get anyhow), he was instead berated by an annoyed slayer. This power move by the slayer was undercut, however, by the fact he was had a snuggly baby under one arm, who was settle down for sleep once more.

His mother took him back up, feeding him when he whined before laying him back down once more in his crib. Then she stood for a moment, staring down at him, watching as he easily found sleep. It was home to him, the little attic. It was overly cramped, hot, and miserable for his parents, but to him, there was no better place.

When Mira envisioned having children, especially once she began to envision it in her current relationship, it was never going to be how it turned out. Like most people, she expected a bit more financial stability and safety than they currently had. Considering Laxus was once a well renown S-Class mage in one of the most prominent guilds, it made perfect sense to feel that way. Even on her own, the tips she made up at the bar, while didn't provide anything lavish, supported her lifestyle and then some.

Now Laxus was a struggling guild master and she kept bar (as well as the guild itself, really) in hopes of eventually capturing the same success he would have gotten when Makarov, no doubt, relinquished Fairy Tail to his grandson. It felt as close as it did far and some months Mira really hated that she'd ever…

But it didn't matter now, she reminded herself as she stared down at her son. She'd long learned not to do that, anyways. Dream too high. Her dreams had all been used up, when she captured her status at Fairy Tail. To give her more would be a spoil. And it was her own fault anyways, Mira was always quick to remind herself. Yes, Laxus had made promises, but they'd always been far too extravagant to accomplish. She knew that when she agreed to come with him. To leave home and try and build a new life together.

To pretend to be shocked that it was essentially proving just as hard as everyone warned would be the epitome of moronic. Though she played it well, Mira was far from unintelligent. She knew it would be hard work. Determination. Drive.

She just…never thought that she'd be giving up so much. While Laxus was getting to have so much.

"It'll be better," he assured her the night after their quick marriage ceremony that was nothing like she'd always dreamed. Nowhere close to lavish. Subdued, honestly, felt like the best description for it. "On a special anniversary, yeah? Renew our vows and have a big wedding. Like you always wanted. I just need-

"Don't," she cut him off with a long sigh, "talk anymore about time."

So he didn't.

Things weren't as bleak as they felt at times, she was reminded as, after watching her son's chest rise and fall a few times, she turned to walk away. She felt such strong love towards her siblings, Mirajane did, that at times it felt paternal, but no. No. When she first held her son, when he was screaming and so purple and so red and so...gross, but hers, from that second forth, she'd felt…

No. She loved Elfman and Lisanna immensely, but it had never been anything close to the love that she held in her heart for her newborn son. She knew that Laxus felt the same. The closest she'd ever, felt to her husband was watching him tear up as he stared down at his son. His firstborn. He told her that he'd never felt so emotional, even in an emotion filled life like he had, and she believed him.

The town always looked different, from the attic window, when it rained. Maybe it was the way that there was less light as the clouds overtook the sun, but still enough to show off the sleepy village that surrounded the old guildhall building, but it always made Mira feel something, deep in her chest, when she took notice of it.

"It's so sad here. Laxus."

She spoke to him without even turning around, having heard his soft footsteps as he came up to the attic space.

"Sad's relative," he replied back simply. "Demon."

When she turned, he had a plate for her and Mira grinned at him slightly, but Laxus had on his coat and was clearly headed out.

"For me?"

"For you," he agreed as she came to take the plate from him as well as leaning up to press a kiss against the slayer's cheek. "You didn't eat while you were downstairs."

"I was working."

"Well, now you're not."

"Mmmm," she hummed as she glanced down at the plate. "The fish smells great. Can you thank Freed for me?"

"How do you know I didn't cook it?"

"Somehow, I just know."

He grunted in reply and Mira only smiled gratefully as she went to sit on the edge of their bed. There was a tiny desk, before, where the baby's crib now sat, but it had been moved to make room. It was no matter, after all. It was a guildhall. Plenty of other places to sit down and write something out. Just no longer in their bedroom.

"Where are you going, Master?" Mira asked as he went to stare over the edge of the crib down at the baby for a moment.

"Out," was his only reply and she accepted it because, honestly, she cared little. "I'll be gone awhile. Freed's leaving for that job at five. Will you be able to close up on your own?"

"I've closed a much larger guild than yours in the past, dragon."

To his grunt, she added, "And you should wear something other than your fuzzy coat. It's wet out."

"Already drying up," he remarked simply and, sure enough, she noted then that the patter of rain had stopped on the roof above.

It would be late, as he warned, before Laxus arrived back at the guildhall. The only things he felt as he walked through the doors was the presence of his wife's magical energy and nothing more. Finally truly alone.

His son was still snoozing much the same, though now in his jammies and hopefully down for the count that night, as Laxus inspect him. He only smiled, the slayer did, in the darkness of his bedroom and gently pressed a hand against his son's fuzzy head, the little tuff of yellow much softer than his own.

Mira was passed out as well, atop the covers as the heat had returned over the course of the afternoon. Still, Laxus smiled as he set the box in his arms down before stripping down and joining her.

She shocked him though, when she shifted closer and pressed another, longer kiss against his cheek this time, nuzzling against it when her lips separated from his stubble.

"Where'd you go?"

He only sighed softly this time and replied, "To the market, first. To get you a fan."

"I told you that-"

"Then I had to meet with someone. Guild stuff. In the morning we can talk about it. Right now-"

"You're tired too?"

"Very," he whispered, as they always did now. The baby slept through most things in those days, honestly, but neither ever wanted to test this too harshly. "Hardly even did shit today, but I feel-"

"You did plenty."

He grunted that time and, for a few minutes, they were both silent. Mira was nearly asleep once more when, softly, he asked, "You're not sad here, are you, Mira?"

She thought too, about it, before just as softly replying, "No. That's not what I meant, anyways."

"Then what did you mean?"

"It's just a small town, Lax. It's different than home. Magnolia, I mean. It was always so busy there. Here, it's just… You know. Different."

"Mmmm," he hummed that time. "Different."

"But not bad," she insisted as one of her hands came to pat at his chest gently. "It reminds me sort of how Elfman, Lisanna, and I grew up."

"I hope it's a bit better though."

"A big bit, actually, yeah."

He smiled at her softly in the darkness. "I think it'll be nice for him. To grow up here. Away from a place like Magnolia."

It was Mira's turn to hum. "Different, anyways. Cities are nice, having so many people around, but there is something nice about tiny little towns. Away from that sort of thing. Safer, maybe, but-"

"Cities corrupt kids," was all Laxus told her as her hand slipped slowly off his chest when the slayer turned onto his side, giving the woman his back. "Magnolia isn't as nice as it seems. Not to kids."

Leaning forwards, she pressed a kiss to his back before whispering against the muscles there, "He'll have a nice life here, in our guild."

"Yeah," he agreed to the shadows that the moonlight cast into their bedroom through that tiny, single window. "We all will."

* * *

 **Would ya look at that, we got a new Miraxus baby to name. I've thought a lot about it and can't really decide on one. Stuck between a few, but none feel right. I'm a big more excited to develop this one though as he's a bit separated from Mira's family, which the kids are normally more influenced by. This one'll be the first wholly Thunder Legion sided kid. Hopefully I'll get back to him for you guys soon.**


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